Forty minutes had past since his call and Logan began to wonder where the x-geeks were. Wishing for another cigar he paced impatiently back and forth in front of the wooden bench and finally decided to contact the weather witch again. He was about to push the connecting button when Logan watched a thick fog coat the road, bar and the near woods. "It's taken care of itself." Logan slid the cell phone back together.

Startled the D'Ancantos took in the white mist enclose everything within sight as Josh voiced his bewilderment. "Where does that fog come from so suddenly?" But this question remained unanswered.

A few minutes later, the haze was still thick and obscure as before, Rogue's heightened senses picked up onto footsteps approaching from the woods nearby and a lavender aroma lingering in the air. Next to her stood Logan, his nostrils flared and his moody expression softened somewhat when he recognised the arrivals.

Logan sensed the brunette's rising nervousness and placed a hand onto the small of her back in a soothing gesture and their eyes locked for a moment.

"Sorry we're late.", stated a female voice and a second later the slender frame of a white haired woman wearing a short-sleeved blue tank top and dark pants appeared in the mist, her blue eyes locked immediately with Wolverine's then travelled over to Rogue's. A warm smile radiated from her lips as she stepped closer to the young brunette and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, honey, I wasn't there for you."

"It's fine." Relief washed over Rogue due to the hearty greeting.

Logan stood next to the two women and watched them pull apart while Ororo's voice held that motherly tone as she asked anxiously. "Rogue, how are you? We were so worried. You just left."

The younger mutant noted the honest concern in Storm's face, a sick feeling of guilt was growing in her stomach. "Ah left a note."

"But that isn't enough, Rogue." A man in a brown jacket walked towards the group, a smile on his face. A large scar run down from his forehead to his left cheek, being hardly covered by the red sunglasses he wore.

"Scott!?" Logan and Rogue exclaimed his name at the same time completely shocked.

"You look as if you had seen a ghost." Cyclops grinned from ear to ear and stopped his approach next to Storm.

With wide brown eyes took Rogue in the familiar face of the fearless X-Men leader. "Ah… Ah thought ya were dead.", stuttered the brunette and immediately hugged her former teacher not letting go.

"We looked for you." Logan was perplexed and his dark brow rose. "What happened?"

Scott struggled a little in the tight and strong embrace of the young woman and his gaze, though blocked by his glasses, met Logan's. "Jean. The small part that was still Jean saved me back then."

Logan nodded in acknowledgement before hugging Ororo. "Good to see you're fine." Of all the geeks at the mansion Storm was the one he liked the most, even though they had their fights and differences, but then again she knew how to reason with him.

"Thanks." She smiled at him. "We missed the both of you."

The smug grin on Logan's features almost softened into a smile and he let go of the weather witch as his eyes roamed over the thick fog that still swallowed almost everything in the vicinity. "You think that's less conspicuous than the blackbird flying over town, 'Ro?"

"Maybe I overdid a little." Ororo's eyes began to drown in complete whiteness as the fog cleared to some extend. A moment past till her eyes have returned to their natural color and the woman fixed her two long lost friends with a serious glower. "We're family, Rogue. You could have called. That also goes for you, Logan."

"Just called you." With a smug grin he held the X-Men-cell up in the air.

An irritated sigh escaped Ororo's lips while glaring at her fellow X-Men. "I'm serious. We didn't know if you had found her." Ororo looked back to the brunette. "God knows what could have happened, honey."

Now it was Rogue's turn to sigh and she almost rolled her eyes at her former teacher. "Ah know. Ah know. Logan already gave me that speech."

Scott noted the annoyed tone in her voice and decided he would save that speech for the other two runaways. His hidden gaze switched from Logan to Rogue and back. "Well… you two hang out together all those months?"

Logan frowned, not liking the tone in the other man's voice and he got back to his teaching: Offensive is the best defensive. "At least I'm not losing her."

"What do you mean!?"

The Canadian's arrogant grin was back on his features when he saw Cyclops' anger boil under his glasses. "You guys lost her twice. And I found her every time." 'Score for me, pansy boy.'

"And she ends up nearly dead." Scott spat back noticing from his peripheral sight Storm shake her head in annoyance.

A growl rumbled in Logan's throat as he stepped towards the younger man, his fury blazing in his dark eyes. "Hey, watch it! I would never bring her in danger on purpose."

"They were after me, both times. Logan saved me. Watch it, One-eye." Everybody shot the young woman a glare. "Sorry." She answered sheepishly.

Ororo couldn't suppress the chuckle that had built in her throat. "She just got your charming traits again, Logan."

Wolverine was proud on his Marie for talking back to Summers and his temper cooled down. "Better than her being dead." He encircled Rogue's shoulders with his arm while planting a kiss on her hair.

Scott didn't like the way Logan touched the girl, it wasn't that he was in love with Rogue, but he didn't like it. "By the way, we left you alone with the kids for only one night and you lost six of them!"

"What!" There was his flaring anger again and his arm dropped from Rogue's shoulders. "Yeah, I lost only six of them! But we got them back unharmed!"

The fearless X-Men leader stood his ground, not getting intimidated by the feral man as he retorted in a calm but smug tone. "Maybe, but you lost six within a few hours."

Logan was now face to face with Scott. "Oh sorry, but a whole army overran our place! I protected what… 150 kids and lost only six. You failed to protect the professor, only one man! And now you lost at least two more students without even knowin' it!" 'Another score for me.'

"But lucky you." Logan pointed his thumb towards the two girls sitting guiltily at a bench near them. "Look what I found." His smirk intensified when he caught Scott's jaw tense in defeat.

The four walked over to the two students, who rose from their seats. Molly let her head hang and stared at her feet while Jubilee looked rather sheepish chewing on her strawberry bubble gum. Before one of the kids could voice some kind of apology, Storm glowered at them. "We'll talk about this at the Institute." Her voice was stern and left no room for arguing. "Go to the jet."

"Bye, Rogue." Molly waved solemnly at the older girl, but Jubilee took the suspended lecture as a sign for relief and was already smiling back at her best friend. "See you, chica! We'll go shopping when you're back!"

Logan growled at that and Molly saw the angry expressions of her teachers. "Only if we aren't grounded till graduation." She shrunk even more, hoping the firecracker would keep her mouth shut, so she couldn't anger their teachers any further.

"That's one of the punishments we had in mind."

"What?!" Jubilee stared wide eyed at Scott. "We are punished for being one week away and Rogue gets for I don't know how many months a hug and a 'we missed you'!?"

Authority sounded clearly in Storm's voice when she glared down on the Asian. "You two lied to us about your whereabouts! If something had happened to you we wouldn't have had the slightest idea about it." She saw Jubilee jump and swallow hard – maybe even her smelling gum. "And concerning Rogue: She left a note and she had her reasons for leaving. This doesn't mean I would tolerate her behaviour. But Rogue is Logan's responsibility and I'm sure he made it clear that this is a no go." Ororo made a sideward glance towards the brunette.

"Crystal." Rogue answered though she winced at 'being Logan's responsibility'. She wasn't a child anymore.

Jubilee was finally quiet and the younger girl pulled her towards the woods where the jet was waiting.

"Jesus, you send them to the jet alone?!" Agitated Logan pointed his finger at Marie. "Already forgotten what she had done the last time you left the kids alone on the plane?!"

"Hey, Ah just wanted to help!" Rogue spat back at him her arms crossed before her chest.

Half growling Logan faced his Marie, their eyes burning into each other when his protection mode kicked in. "I still wonder how you could even step on a plane again after you were sucked out of a hole and were fallin' to your save death, not to mention to fly one!"

"Just because ya hate flying, Logan, Ah don't have to!"

"We made precautions after that incident." Storm knew Logan was only worried about the kids, especially Rogue. "The main systems are locked by a biometric sensor now."

Scott grinned at the obvious dislike of flying vehicles of the other mutant. "We still need to put in your data, so you'll be allowed to use the jet."

Snorting Logan narrowed his eyes. "Never. The only reason I'll come ever near the controls is to repair the plane when it is standing safe on the earth's surface."

Cyclops' grin widened in triumph. "You really hate flying, Logan, don't you?!"

"If we were meant to fly, we'd grown wings." Alone talking about flying made Logan's stomach clench. "I prefer the road."

"Uhu…" Scott smirked and his gaze travelled to the silver X-Jeep in the parking lot. "That's the right subject to dwell on." His hidden blue eyes switched to the feral man and dug into him. "The garage is full with cars. How does it come you always take mine!?"

"We have the same taste in cars." The Canadian shrugged with a sly gleam in his chocolate eyes.

"And women." Storm and Rogue whispered under their breaths earning a death glare from Logan.

"I love your bike, but the car was the better choice for taking Marie with me."

Scott hitched both his brows behind his sunglasses. "So it's Marie now?"

Logan could smack himself. Back at Xavier's he was used to switch between 'Rogue' around others and 'Marie' in privacy, but now he's calling her only by her real name for months of mutual travel and it stuck with him. "What's wrong with you, Summers? Who do you think I am?" He stepped closer to the other mutant.

Sighing Ororo rolled her eyes at the scene. "There we go again…"

Rogue had always known that Scott and Logan were on bad terms and they could torture each other about virtually every subject. The close friendship between her and the much much older man was a thorn in Cyclops' flesh to begin with and was no exception to their fighting topics. "Ah'm not havin' that conversation with ya! It was bad enough to talk about it with mah parents!"

"It?" Scott almost lost his cool.

Meanwhile Logan's temper didn't even know what calm or cool meant any more. "Did I miss something? That's none of your fucking business!" He clutched the other man's leather jacket in both his fists and pulled him with a yank towards his body – their faces were only mere inches apart.

"Will you stop?! Nothing happened!" Rogue approached the two men her fists clenched and bone claws ready. "We are just best friends!" It hurt Rogue a little to say that, she wished for more and if her inner Victor didn't lie to her Logan also wanted more than just being friends.

"Before blood is shed all of you should calm down!" Storm stepped between the trio throwing the elderly couple and the boy a swift glance. To her surprise these three didn't seemed shocked about Rogue's claws.

With a last snarl Logan let go of the other X-Men and turned his back to him to face Rogue. "You need new gloves, darlin'." Carefully he grasped one of her clawed hands.

"Oops." Slowly she withdrew her weapons wincing somewhat at the stinging pain. "It just happened."

Meanwhile Scott was also aware of the presence of the three people near them and their apparent lack of fear. He recalled the teenage boy sitting together with the two runaways on the bench, obviously they had chatted with each other, while his parents – so he assumed – remained next to the children.

Storm shared a view with her old friend and decided to clear her throat, ripping Logan's attention away from the torn gloves. He, as did the brunette a moment later, followed her gaze towards the three bystanders.

Immediately Rogue's face held a trace of embarrassment and she gestured for her family to come over so she could finally make the introducing. "Storm, Scott, these are mah parents Josef and Kathleen D'Ancanto and mah little brother Josh." She held a gentle smile, as she turned towards her family. "Mom, Dad, these are Ororo Munro and Scott Summers. Mah teachers at the school Ah was."

"Nice t' meet ya." Rogue's father was pleasantly surprised. Fine the colored woman had white hair and blue eyes, but this combination made her more exotic looking than freaky and she held an aura of authority and genuine care. Just like her colleague she seemed like a teacher and someone to entrust children with.

"Will ya take me home with ya?" Rogue asked a little worried after the hand shaking was done.

Storm smiled warmly at the girl. "Only if you want, honey."

"Ah do want, but it's too early. And we finally have a clue on Logan's past. We have to go there first."

Scott's voice held surprise when he inquired hastily. "You have? You remember, Logan?"

"Nope." The Canadian's concerned gaze moved to Rogue. "Seems I wasn't the only one she absorbed recently."

The young woman saw the shock rise to her friends' features. "Ah had to. There was no other chance to defeat him." It wasn't like she had wanted him in her head.

"Sabretooth?!" The X-Men had had a short emergency meeting right after Hank had contacted the professor and informed him about the mall incident. But this part her mentor had left out. "Oh, honey. That sadist!" Ororo placed a hand onto the brunette's shoulder; worry was evident in her tone. "How are you?"

"Fine, Ah think. Logan holds him in check." Rogue pointed to her head.

Scott was baffled by this revelation and fixed the other man with his glare. "And Sabretooth knows you, Logan? From back then?"

Wolverine looked up in the sky sighing while Rogue decided to answer. "Victor is Logan's older brother."

"Come again?!", blurted the laser shooting mutant out. She did say brother, didn't she?

X X X X X X X X X

An awkward silence had followed, in which the two X-Men kept staring at the feral man their mouths hung open in bewilderment. Rogue had absorbed a great part of Victor and his memories, however the healing mutant had led a very long life and thus had gathered the amount of recollections of at least three lifetimes, so a lot of his past was still unknown to the brunette while the rest lay within her grasp, but was too blurred and twisted to make much sense. But there was this one decisive day that had changed everything for the older feral and if the memory fragments were anything to go by, there was at least one other person she knew, who could shed some light into the darkness of Logan's past. "Scott, there is something Ah wanna know."

"Rogue?"

"Victor kidnapped you." On his silent answer she continued. "Ya were at school and he attacked ya, didn't he?"

The man only wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "Yeah, I was still a kid then."

"He brought you to an island, a hidden lab or somethin'."

Scott tried to remember. "Could be. They experimented on me, but I dunno… I was blindfolded the whole time." Puzzled he wondered how the young brunette did even know about his captivity. It was an unspoken rule that you don't ask a fellow mutant about their previous lives and the only person he had ever told about this was Jean. "It wasn't that long… someone came and burned the whole complex down."

Rogue was aware she was trespassing Scott's privacy and her friends didn't understand her reason for those questions, but she had to bring those memories – Victor's memories - into the right order and Scott may be able to fill some gaps. She owed Logan the truth. "How did you and the others escape?"

"The professor guided us to the outside and was picking us up." He saw in the brunette's eyes seriousness and this was enough to trust her. She wouldn't ask if there was no good reason behind it.

Carefully Rogue's resolved gaze settled on her Wolverine. She was stepping onto sacred territory. "What is your first memory, Logan?" Both of them knew that she already knew the answer to that particular question, though they had never talked about it, but now she needed, no Logan needed to hear those words coming from his lips.

His chin tightened when his eyes searched Marie's face for a hint why she would bring his torment up especially in front of Scooter. But Marie trusted him and he trusted her, even the Wolverine in him trusted the young woman and she would never betray him – that was as certain as the sun rises in the East. This was the reason why he hadn't pressed about his past until now – she would tell him eventually like she had done in the hospital. "An island, debris, a dead woman not far from me…

"The day you fled, Scott." Her gaze travelled from one man to the more feral one. "Ah think that was the day, Stryker took your memory, Logan." Rogue saw Logan's chocolate eyes move fast while he processed this new information and everything that was attached to it. She wasn't surprised by the heartbreaking hurt and betrayal that suddenly flickered in his orbs and soon turned to rage as his eyes darkened and his Adamantium fist connected hard with the brick wall of the bar.

"That bastard!" The growl made everybody jump, but Rogue, who simply watched the Wolverine take out his furry on the building next to him. "Chuck knew from the beginning!"

Panting heavily Logan's fists finally remained pressed into the newly created hole in the stone wall, his view still clouded with anger but the animal was calming down as he leaned his forehead against the cool brick wall. A few staggered breaths later he pushed away and his tormented gaze immediately searched for Rogue's, finding understanding in her features and the same feeling of betrayal he knew his eyes held at the moment.

"Chuck knew who I was." It was merely a whisper and Rogue feared he would break apart any minute. Slowly she retrieved a tissue from her pocket and picked one of his balled fists up with her small gloved hands. At once the tension in his muscles subsided and his fist opened slipping into Rogue's palm. Squeezing his fingers she lifted the tissue to his knuckles and wiped the blood of his already healed wounds away. "Ah know sugah." She breathed after cleaning his other hand and she finally led him to the near bench sinking down beside him on the old wood.

Storm watched her friends before her, her mind still processing this information about her mentor. A part of her – the part that loved the professor like a father – was denying the truth vehemently telling her the old man was a saint, but the more rational part of her began to question all the decisions Xavier had made over the many years and if those were truly in the best interest of everybody concerned. "The professor always said it'd be the best you would remember on your own."

The weather witch immediately regretted those words when Logan's blazing eyes pierced into her. "You also knew?"

"No. I had no idea." She shook her head and prayed she hadn't just stomped onto his trust and friendship. Carefully she neared the pair on the bench and tentatively reached out to Logan's shoulder, but her hand dropped back to her side as soon as she saw Rogue's glare. "I didn't mean to… I'm sorry, Logan."

The Canadian only starred into the space before him while Rogue held onto his hand running her fingertips over his knuckles. His free hand was placed onto her knee. A few minutes past by till Scott approached his team mates and broke the silence. "Rogue, what happened there? The professor only told me some mutant had crushed that place." He watched both of them cringe at the mention of Xavier, but it was a legitimate question, after all he also was one of the test subjects back then.

Sighing Rogue felt an encouraging squeeze on her knee before Logan removed his hands and broke their physical connection while his eyes locked onto her features asking her to tell him more about that fateful day. Her right hand went to her temple rubbing small circles on her soft skin. "All the pictures are so confusin'. They tricked ya. Ah think both of ya, Logan. Ya and Victor." All eyes rested on her with expectation but her own gaze was centered on Logan and him alone. "Ah'm really not sure if Ah get all this right, 'k?" She felt his fingers tug her white lock behind her ear.

Logan grasped her small hands in his. "Go on, darlin'. Maybe you'll trigger some flashbacks. Who tricked us?"

"Stryker." Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment she tried to sort out the pictures in her mind not counting on the two brother's voices to help her. Her inner Logan was almost as clueless as the real one and for Victor this was a too important topic to discuss it with the runt as he had put it. Somehow she got the impression he was afraid of the reaction of his little brother about his past, their past. But to her astonishment the older feral gave her full access to his memories. "There was this woman… she was dead… murdered by Victor… then again she was still alive. It doesn't make any sense."

Logan tried to verify this information, but nothing came to his mind. "What's so special about that woman?" He saw it in her features and heard it in her tone: this woman was also a key to his former life.

The brunette swallowed hard before she looked deep into her friend's hazel eyes, finding hope there. This was too paramount for him, for his past to further remain in the dark. "Ah think she was your … wife or somethin' alike."

"Woah! Didn't see that coming!" Scott received a death glare from Storm.

"Okay."

Slightly gapping Rogue watched Logan's expression for a moment, but his features remained the same. 'Didn't he listen? Ah just told him he was... maybe still is married!' Her puzzlement was clearly audible in her voice. "That's all you say, Logan?"

The man in question only let a sigh escape his lips. "There always was this possibility." He saw her nod in understanding and pinched her hands encouragingly. "Go on, Marie."

With a small smile Rogue tried to concentrate harder on the picture of that woman in her mind and finally she continued. "Ah'm not sure what really happened. But Ah do know that she was killed by Victor and then again Ah'm sure he would have never crossed that line."

"What line?"

"To kill his brother's wife." She simply stated.

Logan's face was completely blank now and both his dark eyebrows were hitched in bewilderment. "But killing his brother on a daily basis is fine?"

"Ah already told ya, he's hurt. He was so proud to be your big brother. He would have done anything for ya!"

Chuckling in disbelieve Logan lifted one of his hands from hers and dragged his fingers through his dark mane. "And what happened? Did I do somethin'?"

More pictures popped up before her mind's eye, scenes that were freaking familiar by now. "Nah, Ah think it wasn't ya. All those wars ya two were in. So much death and killing…" The horrible dream from the night before came back to life in her head and for once she felt herself being pulled into the life of someone else.

His love remained quiet for a few seconds, but when the sparkle of life threatened to die from her bright hazel eyes, he finally grasped that she wasn't sorting out memories. "Marie? Stay here with me." Logan grasped her by the shoulders squeezing her lightly worry evident in his raspy voice.

Her eyes refocused on Wolverine's face noting the concern for her in his brown orbs. "Ah'm fine."

A breath of relief left Logan's lips his concern still graved into his features. "It's too much for you, darlin'. We'll stop here."

Her compassionate eyes pleaded with him as he placed his hand onto hers. "But ya are searchin' for your past all this time. Now it's so close."

"I don't want you drown in that darkness!" His darkness.

"It's fine, sugah." Rogue took a deep breath. "Sometime during the Vietnam War, maybe even earlier, Victor began to enjoy killin' and hurtin' people. Innocent civilians." She swallowed hard. "The animal took over."

Storm frowned while listening intently to the story. "Where was Logan at that time?"

"They were always together." She centred her focus back on Logan's face. "Ya saw his change and tried to stop him, but he got in trouble with his commander and ya helped him, endin' with both of ya gettin' executed. That was the moment Stryker laid his eyes on ya."

Rogue paused to gather her thoughts. "Ah think ya were torn. Ya tried to save his soul by stayin' with him. Holdin' the animal under check. Ah believe ya thought him lost by the time ya left the unit, but ya were still his only tie to humanity. And then ya were gone… He felt betrayed by the only family he had ever trusted." She felt more emotions wash over her and encircle her heart till it ached for the older feral. "And to make it even worse for him ya didn't even remember being his little brother for the last two decades. All ties between ya two have been broken. That just added to his hurt feelings."

"And why does he beat the shit out of me every time we meet?"

"It's his twisted brotherly love for ya, Ah think." Rogue shrugged. This was the best answer she could come up with.

Scott shook his head in disgust. "I don't understand how you can speak like this about that monster!?"

"He's in my head!" Rogue's eyes wandered to Logan's unreadable face. "Ah have both of ya spinnin' in mah mind."

"Great, we are fighting in your mind!"

"Nah, it's like your voice tries to calm him so he wouldn't bother me."

"So I'm the louder one in there." Worried Logan stroked her head gently. He had never liked the burden he had put onto this innocent young girl years ago. Nobody should have to deal with his vicious personality and the animal within and his petrifying past.

"Nah, not really. Ah had your presence in mah mind for the last few years. Ya usually behave." She smiled softly. "Always watching over me."

"Rogue, you wanted to tell us what happened back then, when Logan lost his memories?" Storm tried to get back to the story.

"Yeah, right." The brunette took a deep breath before continuing. "Victor helped Stryker 'cause he was promised to also get the Adamantium, when he would assure that you would take part in the experiment on your own free will. Victor's bonus would have been that ya would finally be back."

"Why would Logan be a guinea pig voluntarily?" This didn't make any sense to Scott.

Logan frowned as images flashed before his mind's eye. "Kayla." It was a mere whisper.

"What?" The younger man asked confused by this single word.

"Her name was Kayla." Logan's eyes moved fast while he tried to bring the pictures in the right order.

Rogue was exited and smiled brightly. "Ya remembered!"

The frown was still graved onto Logan's forehead, when the picture of a blood covered brunette woman appeared in his mind. "They made me think Victor had killed her." He concentrated harder and more fragments of his lost past came back to him. "You're right he didn't kill her." His features became grim. "I wanted revenge, but Victor was too strong."

"So you turned to Stryker?!" Storm began to get the picture slowly.

"But that was their fucking plan to begin with." Logan spat in loathing.

Rogue squeezed his hand and ran her thumb over his knuckles. "Ya'd have been the perfect weapon, just your conscience was in Stryker's way."

Flashes of his nightmare made him cringe as the Adamantium bonding became clearer than ever before. "He was about to erase my memory. But I escaped." Logan remembered the moment he broke free from the tank and drove his new claws into the metal casing – those three marks he had found two years ago at Alkali Lake.

Immediately Rogue held his large hand more firmly and continued, so her love wouldn't dwell too long on this nightmare. "Stryker double crossed the both of ya. He told Victor his test results weren't good enough. That he wouldn't survive the procedure." Wolverine's tormented gaze met hers. "Ah believe that was a lie. Victor was… is too dangerous."

"Was that on the island?" Storm was a little confused.

"No." Logan contemplated a moment. "They hunted me. I finally understood that Victor had worked for Stryker all the time." He shook his head. "Nothing. I can't remember." Logan felt Rogue's free gloved hand grasping his. "You have to continue, darlin'."

"Ya somehow managed to find that secret lab on the island. Stryker constructed his newest soldier – Weapon XI, Deadpool." The young woman frowned. "Ya were Weapon X, Logan." She frowned again. "Kayla was also there, alive?!" She squeezed her eyes shut and felt Victor's hatred for the woman in that very moment almost 20 years ago, who had only played with his little brother and leveraged him. "She'd worked for Stryker. He studied her sister." Sabretooth's emotions were coming back to life alongside his memories. In that minute back at Three-Mile-Island, he had seen his brother broken by the betrayal of that bitch, something snapped in him and when Logan had left hurt, Victor knew this woman wasn't his brother's anymore and she became instantly his prey. She should pay for deceiving his family.

"She just used you? I'm sorry, Logan." Storm held sympathy in her blue eyes.

Suddenly new memory fragments came up in Logan's head. "Didn't know she was also a mutant." He shook his head to clear it from these painful feelings. "I helped her free her sister and the kids." The Canadian looked up to Scott. "There was that boy. You were there, one of the kids … but Deadpool interfered."

Rogue had listened to the part Sabretooth held no recollections about and picked his story up at the point both feral men faced Deadpool. "Victor helped ya. Both of ya fought together against Weapon XI."

"Brothers protect each other." Logan saw the startled faces of his friends. "Victor used to say that. After we had defeated Wade Victor left."

"Wade?"

"Weapon XI. He was also in Team X." More memories appeared. "Kayla came back, but… she was shot… it was her." Logan's voice cracked. He could almost feel the bleeding body of the brunette lay in his arms as he tried to bring her away. "I remember now. She died there, while Stryker shot me in the head." Unshed tears glittered in his brown eyes when he found himself embraced by Rogue. The grief soon lightened by the knowledge of having at least regained his memories of her and being held by his Marie.

The beautiful brunette with the white stripes was his present and his future. Even the animal within him knew the young woman would never betray him deliberately. She was his anchor in this savage motion of the sea that was his life.

Logan breathed in and closed his eyes to gather himself before he broke their hug and gave Rogue a reassuring nod. He pulled her with him to her feet as he stood up and faced the other X-Men. "It's late. You should look that the kids haven't taken off without you." His arm sneaked around Marie's waist and his hand rested on her hip. "We should get going, darlin'." Logan had to get away from all those people. It was as if they were draining his energy from his body due to their mere presence. He felt weaker by the moment; then again his anger at his past concentrated in his gut and the rage kept growing, giving him the strength to rip his claws through the large truck a few feet away. He needed to get away before he'd slice something apart.

Rogue saw his struggle and faced Storm with an encouraging smile while pressing her body against Logan's side. "We'll come home. Promise."

"Just tying a few lose ends." The Canadian added.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

An hour later Rogue was slightly startled when their Jeep suddenly left the interstate and approached a town. "Logan?"

Usually Logan would drive fast for hours or even days to clear his mind and come to terms with the crap life kept throwing at him, but now, after reliving through so many emotions and memories, he had longed for, he was exhaust mentally and physically. "This was all a bit much for me today. Canada can wait a day or two. What you think, darlin'?"

"Sure. It's your decision, sugah." She felt so bad for causing him so much pain. "Ah'm sorry to load so much on ya at once."

"Nah. I want to know my past." He saw her sadness and concern for him sparkle in her hazel eyes. "I can cope with my past, Marie. Just need a little time to let all that crap sink in."

"Ah'm here for ya, Logan." Rogue knew better than to push the Wolverine into talking about his feelings.

"I know, darlin'." A small smile tugged on his lips. "Were too much people for my likin' the last few days."

"Know what ya mean." Neither of them liked crowds. Even at the mansion Rogue needed her few hours daily alone in her room reading and thinking or just watching Hockey with Logan.

"Just need some time alone. Only the two of us. … Watchin' TV, chewin' unhealthy fast food and not leavin' our room." He only needed her close to him to make him better, to give him strength.

The brunette smirked at her friend. "Need vacation from the vacation, sugah?"

"Hell yes!" He chuckled, but the worn expression never left his face.

"Me, too. Don't think Ah could put up with my family a day longer."

He pulled into the parking lot of a huge supermarket. "Let's get some groceries done and look for a not too shitty motel for us, darlin'."